Rail cleaning device



1941- c. A. CADWELL ET AL RAIL CLEANING DEVI CE Filed Dec. 1, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR I (her/e5 flfadwe/l BY 770326 G. gar/5022 c? M TTORNEY S g- W411- c. A. CADWELL ETAL 2,251,978

RAIL CLEANING DEVICE Filed Dec. 1, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORfi C/Z arles .17. Cad wall k By 7705 is Car/6 or:

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 12, 1941 RAIL CLEANING DEVICE Charles A. Cadwell and Noble G. Carlson, Cleveland Heights, Uhio, assignors to The Electric Railway Improvement Company,

Cleveland,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 1, 1938, Serial No. 243,352

9 Claims.

This invention relates, as indicated, to a device for cleaning nails and more particularly to a device for cleaning those areas of rails to which it is desired to connect rail bond conductors.

Dirt, rust and scale will interfere with any method of joining railway signal bond conductors to the rails and render particularly difficult the obtaining of a suitable welded terminal. Rail cleaning devices in the past have been either heavy and cumbersome or unsatisfactory in the results produced or tended to slow operations.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a rail cleaning device which is light and easy to manipulate but will nevertheless produce a well-cleaned surface on the side of the railhead with a minimum expenditure of effort and time.

A further object is to provide a rail cleaning device of the above type which is adapted to cleaning the two areas of the rail faces where bond terminals are to be attached without altering the position of the body of the device.

Other objects of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, this invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims; the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail a certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of our new device and a section of rail upon which it rests;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing the rail in cross section;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational View of the pivotable member carrying the cutting tool;

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly in cross-section along the line 4-4 of Fig. 5, of a modified embodiment of the machine of our invention;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the same embodiment showing the rail in cross-section; and

Fig. 6 is an end elevational View taken from the right side of Fig. 5, of the body of the device which is clamped to the rail.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, our new device comprises two main parts, a support comprisinga steel frame piece I which when in use rests upon the rail head 2 and is pivctally connected by means of a stud 3 to the cutting means comprising a member 4 carrying a rotatably mounted cutting disk 5, said member A being rotatable about said stud 3 in a plane substantially parallel to the side of said rail and fixedly attached to a tubular frame 6, in which handles 1 are mounted. Said frame I includes lateral arms 8 and 8 and supports a screw 9 which is somewhat offset so as to better oppose the cutting tool 5 and by which the cutting tool 5 may be drawn in close relation to the face of the rail. Fig. 3 shows the rotatable member 6 with the rotatably mounted cutting disk 5.

Figs. 4 and 5 show another modification cf the device comprising a flanged member it which rests on the rail head 2 with two downward flanges H and i2 supporting rods l3 and M having upturned ends, the side of the rail between said flanges being exposed and unobstructed; said member IE] is fixedly attached to the lower end of a fulcrum arm l5 which is pivotally connected by a bolt It to a lateral arm ll fixedly attached to a second fulcrum arm l3 provided with a clamping foot I3 adapted to engage the side of the rail head opposite to that engaged by said flanges II and I2. Extending between the upper ends of the fulcrum arms l5 and I8 is a screw member 2d having oppositely pitched threads on its opposite ends which are respectively engaged in threaded blocks 2i and 22 pivotably supported on fulcrum arms l5 and I8. At the end of said screw is mounted a hand wheel 23 whereby it may be conveniently rotated in either direction to selectively move the upper ends of the fulcrum arms toward or away from each other and to correspondingly unclamp and clamp the flanges H and i2 against the side of the rail head. This clamping device may be further adapted for use on larger size rail heads by employing the outer hole 24 in the lateral arm H as the pivotal point with bolt It. The handle and frame I and 6 carry a cutting tool as in the form of the device illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 but here the cross member 4 of the frame corresponding to the member l in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is not fixedly pivoted but instead may be merely rested upon and slid back and forth on either rod l3 or M, being prevented from slipping off by the upturned ends of said rods. Fig. 6 shows the member ill and the fulcrum arm is with the screw regulating hand wheel 23.

The method of operation of the above described device is as follows: If the form of the device illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 be employed the frame piece I is rested on the rail head and the screw 9 adjusted so that while said frame piece may still be slid along the rail the cutting disk 5 will be maintained with its edge directed towards and in relatively close contact with the side of the rail head. By twisting the handles 1 the member t is rotated about the stud 3 so as to lower said cutting tool 5 to the lowest part of the area of the side of the rail head which it is desired to clean. The operator then twists said handles 1 in the opposite direction at the same time applying pressure to force the edge of said cutting tool 5 to bear somewhat more heavily on the side of the rail head, thus scraping clean a portion of the area. This procedure is repeated, cutting only on the upstroke of said cutting tool 5 and sliding the supporting frame i a very slight distance along the rail between each stroke. The arms 8 and 8' aid in maintaining the position of said frame I upon the rail head during operations. In this manner a sufiicient area may generally be cleaned with only four or five strokes of the tool.

The modified form of apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5 operates in a somewhat different manner although employing the same general principles. The flanged member if] is placed on the rail head with the flanges II and I2 resting against the side of said rail head and firmly held in place by rotating the hand screw 23 so as to cause the clamping foot 59 to tightly engage the side of the rail head opposite to said flanges. The handle I and frame 6 is held by the operator with the cross member 4' resting on the supporting rod l3 (or l4) and the cutting tool 5 in contact with the side of the rail head. The handles are then turned as above described, the cutting being done on the upstroke and the cutting tool 5 being i moved sideways between the strokes, thus cleaning the desired area. The frame is then moved over to rest on the other rod it (or E3) and the operation repeated. In this manner two cleaned areas may be obtained properly spaced to receive the weld terminals of the bond. The apparatus may then be unclamped and moved to the next location where a signal conductor bond is to be attached.

It will readily be seen that our apparatus is easily portable and does not require skilled labor for its operation. One man cleaning rails with this device can with little trouble keep ahead of two men welding signal conductor bonds even when such welding is done with the aid of improved methods now available employing an exothermic reaction to produce the weld metal. The form of our device illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 weighs less than eleven pounds.

It is, of course, obvious that our new device may be employed for various other uses similar to that for which it is primarily adapted and may, as suggested in this description, be modified in vari ous ways without, however, departing from the spirit of the invention.

Other modes of applying the principle of our invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. A device for cleaning the side of a rail head which comprises a frame adapted to fit upon the rail head, a member pivotably mounted on said frame operative to rotate in a plane substantially parallel to the side of said rail head to be cleaned, handle means whereby such rotation may be effected, and a cutting tool mounted on said r0- tatable member in position for oscillation together with said member in cutting engagement with the side of said rail head.

2. A device for cleaning the side of a rail head which comprises a frame adjustable to fit upon the rail head and braced to prevent rotation lengthwise of said rail, a member pivotably mounted on said frame operative to rotate in a plane substantially parallel to the side of said rail head to be cleaned, handles attached to said member whereby such rotation may be effected, and a cutting tool mounted on said rotatable member substantially normal to and in position for oscillation in cutting engagement with the side of said rail head.

3. A device for cleaning the side of a rail head which comprises a supporting frame adjustable to fit upon the rail head, a member pivotably mounted on said frame operative to rotate in a plane substantially parallel to the side of said rail head to be cleaned, handles attached to said member whereby such rotation may be effected, and a cutting disk rotatably mounted on said rotatable member in position to contact the side of said rail head.

4. A device for cleaning the side of a rail head which comprises a supporting frame, clamping means whereby said frame may be held fixedly positioned on said rail head, two pins projecting from said frame and spaced apart a distance equal to that desired between the finished welded terminals of the bonds to be attached, a cross member and handles adapted to be supported on either of said pins, and a cutting tool mounted on said cross member in position to contact the side of said rail head when said cross member is rested on either of said pins.

5. A device for cleaning the side of a rail, comprising a frame adapted to engage the rail head while permitting movement longitudinally therealong, a cutting tool mounted on said frame for oscillatory movement in a plane substantially parallel to the side of such rail head, and handlemeans connected with said tool for oscillating the same, said handle-means being also adapted to move said frame along the rail.

6. A device for cleaning the side of a rail, comprising a frame adapted to engage the rail head while permitting movement longitudinally therealong, a cutting disk rotatably mounted on said frame for bodily movement in a plane substantially parallel to the side of such rail head, the edge of said disk being directed towards such side, and handle-means connected with said disk for oscillating the same, said handle-means being also adapted to move said frame along the rail.

7. A device for cleaning the side of a rail, comprising a frame adapted to fit upon the rail head, a member supported on said frame and rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the side of the rail to be cleaned, a pair of spaced handles affixed to said member whereby said member may be thus rotated, and a cutting tool mounted on said rotatable member in position for oscillation together with said member in cutting engagement with the side of said rail head.

8. A device for cleaning a rail preparatory to attachment of a rail bond conductor, comprising a frame adapted to engage the rail head, and a cutting tool pivotally mounted on said frame for arcuate cutting movement with its cutting edge substantially normal to the surface of the rail tobe cleaned.

9. A device for cleaning a rail preparatory to attachment of a rail bond conductor, comprising a frame adapted to engage the rail head, a diskshaped cutting tool pivotally mounted on said frame, and handle means operative to arcuately oscillate said cutting tool in cutting engagement with the surface of the rail.

CHARLES A. CADWELL. NOBLE G. CARLSON. 

